Week 4 - The Finale

A little on the late side I know (due to a mixture of business on some days and laziness on others!), but here are the notes from our final week of the Plastic Free February experiment.

22nd February

A working day today, however the postman did deliver us a little plastic free treat! In a bid to rid our kitchen of the little green and yellow scouring pads (which are plastic based), we ordered some natural alternatives that are made of natural materials and therefore are biodegradable. 

The product is made from sustainably harvested loofah crops and coloured with vegetable dyes.

While the originals don't quite fall into the "single use" plastic that we are trying to avoid, this is just another step that we can take to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our waste in the long term.

23rd February

Out and about for work this afternoon, but have made sure to bring some lunch along with me. Short of going to a sit down cafe, lunch on the hop is very difficult to do without breaking the rules.

A sandwich (wrapped in a paper bag - reused from the fruit and veg shop) and a few pieces of fruit will tide me over until dinner this evening!

24th February

In work all day today so no temptation to buy anything. In the evening however, Vicky is starting to plan what is going to grow where in the garden this year. 

Last year, we bought lots of compost - most of which came in plastic wrapping. This year we have made even more veg beds, and will need another large quantity of compost again. Though we will not be buying the compost this month, we decide that a large dumpy bag delivered from the garden centre will actually save on a lot of plastic (and it can be returned and reused again which is even better!). We even have some wooden plant labels (and all of our saved up ice lolly sticks!) to replace the plastic plant labels we have used before!

25th February

As per usual on a Sunday - nothing to report!

26th Febrary

My only day off this week, so time to head out and get some shopping done. 

After reminding the bakers that I don't need my loaf in a plastic bag, and popping round to get our milk in the glass bottles, I head to our local health food shop which also stocks a wide range of environmentally friendly cleaning products.

My aim is to get a refill for our kitchen cleaner spray - therefore avoiding the need to buy another spray bottle itself. Sadly this seems to be the only product in the range for which a simple bottle refill service is not available. Typical!

However the super friendly man at the shop (who had previously introduced us to his cellophane packaging) pointed out another product from the same company which is essentially a concentrated version of the same product. Therefore by buying this plastic bottle once, we can avoid having to continually buy a new spray bottle each time - thereby reducing our plastic use in the long run.

The spray on the right could not be refilled, however the bottle we bought (left) is essentially an undiluted version of the spray meaning that we can refill our spray time and time again!

Gutting as it seems to wave goodbye to the chance of a whole plastic free week in this experiment, I buy the plastic bottle knowing that in the circumstances it is simply the best that we can do. 

27th February

An unusual Tuesday at work for me as I'm on a training course. Lunch and drinks provided so happy days!

28th February

The final day of the experiment!

Once again I'm out and about for work, and on the way back I need to stop off and fill up my car. I quickly pop into the shop to buy a drink (I have got my reusable bottle of water with me, but I really fancy something with a punchy flavour!).

I really want a fruit smoothie, however each and every one of them only come in a plastic bottle. Not prepared to break the rules on the final day I head to the soft drink isle and find a sparkling apple and elderflower juice which comes in a glass bottle. At £2 for a large bottle I think it is reasonably well priced considering what you would pay for a standard sized fizzy drink in a plastic bottle. The main disadvantage is the additional weight that you carry from the large glass bottle.

Week 4 Conclusion

Like the weeks that have come before it, week 4 was not entirely plastic free due to the cleaning products that we bought. 

By definition we have failed to have a "Plastic Free February" which was the original (but extremely ambitious target). However, looking at the quantity of (mostly) needless plastic that we have avoided I feel that we have been very successful, and I am genuinely proud of our efforts.

During the course of the experiment, we have spoken to several other people who are doing (or have done the same thing). Through the news and general common consciousness, the issue of how plastic is damaging our planet has become a lot more apparent, and it seems that us and many others are now starting to take their first steps toward a severely reduced plastic lifestyle.

What is clear now is that if the general public are willing to do their bit, then the manufacturers of all of our common products need to do their bit too. If we want to expect people to change their purchasing behaviours, we need to be able to offer them a choice - a choice that is all to often missing at this time.

In the next edition I will take a closer look at how I feel this experiment has impacted on my time and expenditure, as well as highlighting a few positive news stories that might have sneaked through the news unnoticed. But if in the mean time you feel inspired or challenged, why not give this a go yourself? It doesn't have to be for a whole month - try it for a day, 3 days, a week or however long you think you can handle it. Every little bit of plastic that we don't buy now is a little bit of plastic that will never need to be re-manufactured in the future, and that is the start of how we win this war on plastic.